Search

Errors in the paper [1] are corrected here. As a result, particle trajectories are quite different.

Although the recent years have witnessed a growing interest in functional connectivity (FC) through brain sources, the FC in extreme situations has not been completely elucidated. This paper is aimed at investigating whether the expertise acquired during the deep-sea diving is reflected in FC in a group of professional divers (PDs) compared to a group of new divers (NDs), and how it could affect the concentration and stress levels. The sources of brain frequency rhythms, derived by the electroencephalography acquisition in a hyperbaric chamber, were extracted in different frequency bands and the corresponding FC was estimated in order to compare the two groups. The results highlighted a significant decrease of the alpha source in PDs during air breathing and a significant increase of the upper beta source over central areas at the beginning of post-oxygen air, as well as an increase of beta FC between fronto-temporal regions in the last minutes of oxygen breathing and in the early minutes of post-oxygen air. This provides evidence in support of the hypothesis that experience and expertise differences would modulate brain networks. These experiments provided the unique opportunity of investigating the impact of the neurophysiological activity in simulated critical scenarios in view of the investigation in real sea-water experiments.

Although many researchers have been conducted studies on functional brain connectivity (FC), little work has been dedicated to FC in extreme situations. This study aimed at investigating whether the expertise acquired during deep-sea diving is reflected in global efficiency of the functional brain networks in a group of professional divers (PDs) compared with a group of new divers (NDs). The source signals, derived by electroencephalography (EEG) acquisition in a hyperbaric chamber, and the corresponding functional connectivity matrices were extracted in different frequency bands. Examining the overall organization of the brain network using graph analysis, we found a significant decrease of global efficiency in $\alpha$ band in PDs during air breathing and a significant increase of the upper $\beta$ activity during the oxygen breathing and in the post-oxygen air. This provides evidence in support of the hypothesis that the experience and expertise differences would modulate brain networks. These experiments provided the unique opportunity of investigating the impact of the neurophysiological activity in simulated critical scenarios in view of the investigation in real sea-water experiments.

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), enter coastal environments primarily in effluents of wastewater treatment facilities and have become ubiquitous in marine surface waters, sediments, and biota. Although EE2 and 4-NP have been detected in marine shellfish, the kinetics of bioconcentration and their tissue distribution have not been thoroughly investigated. The authors performed bioconcentration and depuration experiments in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, with 3.37 nM EE2 (0.999 μg/L) and 454 nM 4-NP (100.138 µg/L). Mussels and seawater were sampled throughout a 38-d exposure and a 35-d depuration period, and 6 tissues were individually assayed. Uptake of EE2 and 4-NP was curvilinear throughout exposure and followed a similar uptake pattern: digestive gland > gill ≥ remaining viscera > gonad > adductor > plasma. Depuration varied, however, with half-lives ranging from 2.7 d (plasma) to 92 d (gill) for EE2 and 15 d (plasma) to 57 d (gill) for 4-NP. An innovative modeling approach, with 3 coupled mathematical models, was developed to differentiate the unique roles of the gill and plasma in distributing the EDCs to internal tissues. Plasma appears pivotal in regulating EDC uptake and depuration within the whole mussel. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:863–873. © 2015 SETAC

Nowadays cultural heritage faces many challenges which require the implementation of resilient policies: in fact, threats against cultural heritage may come not only from manmade hazards but also from natural ones (i.e. earthquakes in central Italy and sacks and devastation in Palmyra site by Daesh fighters). To preserve from damages those places, strong preventive actions have been started. Now the actual implementation is limited to digital materials comprising photos, videos and documents. The research proposes the use of crowdsourcing as instrument to build the database necessary to make 3D models of cultural assets at low costs and with a short development time. Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people. Thus, tourists and inhabitants can contribute in the preservation process of cultural assets increasing the resilience of cities.

Corrigendum to “Three-dimensional motion of particles in a shear flow near a rough wall” (Three-dimensional motion of particles in a shear flow near a rough wall (2016) 96 (69–95), (S0021850215001664), (10.1016/j.jaerosci.2015.10.004)); International audience; A model is proposed for the three-dimensional motion of a small spherical particle entrained by the shear flow of a gas near a rough wall. On the basis of experimental results, the wall is modeled by an average small roughness and some much larger isolated peaks, which are yet smaller than the sphere radius. When encountering a high peak of roughness, the particle may be lifted if the aerodynamic force and torque take over the force and torque due to adhesion on the wall. The aerodynamics is treated using previous analytical results for the creeping flow around a particle near a wall. Values of the adhesion forces of a particle near a rough wall are obtained experimentally. When lifted from the wall, the particle follows a three-dimensional trajectory while rotating around the peak of roughness. Examples of calculated trajectories show that the particle may or may not reach the top of the peak, depending on the various physical parameters. Since the velocity of the particle when leaving the peak grows with its final distance from the wall, that velocity is essential for the subsequent particle resuspension by the ambient shear flow. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) arechanging the way people plan a journey and travel around theworld. Advanced mobility information systems, as well asintelligent multimodal mobility services, may take considerableadvantage of consolidated technologies from emerging ICTframeworks. In this paper we propose an Extended IntelligentTransportation System (ExITS) consisting of a basic ITSequipped with a User Centric Control System (UCCS). Theproposed ExITS relies on service personalization methodologiesand is conceived as a Future Internet (FI) oriented, closed-loop,user centric architecture integrating and controlling ITSservices. The proposed UCCS considers the trip planningservice and takes into account both explicit and implicit userpreferences in selecting travel solutions satisfying a given userrequest. The aim of the UCCS is to drive the trip planningservice in proposing to the user travel typologies tailored topersonal preferences. Implicit preferences are automaticallyinducted by similarity based unsupervised machine learningtechniques and verified by a closed-loop controlmechanismtriggered by explicit user feedback.

Introduction: Weight loss amongst women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is crucial to reduce the risk of endocrine, reproductive and metabolic complications including hirsutism, menstrual disturbances and cardiovascular disease. With approximately 50% of women with PCOS being overweight or obese, effective dietary management of weight in PCOS is essential. However, there is inconsistent evidence as to whether specifically modified diets (e.g. reduced carbohydrate diets) are more effective at achieving weight loss amongst women with PCOS than are conventional healthy hypocaloric diets. Material and Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that had compared weight and BMI between women with PCOS who had undergone either a specifically modified diet or a conventional healthy hypocaloric diet were performed. Six electronic databases were searched, a manual search of the reference lists of the included studies was carried out and authors were contacted for additional information. Nine studies with a total of 395 participants (all with a body mass index [BMI] ≥30) were included in the meta-analysis. The effect size used was the mean difference in post-intervention weight and BMI between participants who had undergone a specifically modified diet and participants who had undergone a conventional healthy hypocaloric diet. Results: There were no differences between groups in post-intervention weight (mean difference 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.92 to 3.43, p = .26; heterogeneity I2 = 50%, p = .04) or BMI (mean difference 0.15, 95% CI -0.93 to 1.23, p = 0.79; heterogeneity I2 = 44%, p = 0.10). Subgroup analyses according to the presence of a dietary run-in period (a period at the start of the study during which all participants are placed on an identical diet in order to equalize them on variables influenced by diet), intervention duration and type of diet and a sensitivity analysis according to study quality were not significant. Conclusions: Whilst the results should be interpreted in light of the moderate heterogeneity observed, they suggest that specifically modified diets offer no added benefit for weight loss in women with PCOS over conventional healthy hypocaloric diets. The findings of this meta-analysis may promote the unification of guidelines for the dietary management of PCOS and allow clinicians to be confident in prescribing conventional healthy hypocaloric diets for weight loss amongst their PCOS patients.

PurposeThe Hermite collocation method of discretization can be used to determine highly accurate solutions to the steady‐state one‐dimensional convection‐diffusion equation (which can be used to model the transport of contaminants dissolved in groundwater). This accuracy is dependent upon sufficient refinement of the finite‐element mesh as well as applying upstream or downstream weighting to the convective term through the determination of collocation locations which meet specified constraints. Owing to an increase in computational intensity of the application of the method of collocation associated with increases in the mesh refinement, minimal mesh refinement is sought. Very often this optimization problem is the one where the feasible region is not connected and as such requires a specialized optimization search technique. This paper aims to focus on this method.Design/methodology/approachAn original hybrid method that utilizes a specialized adaptive genetic algorithm followed by a hill‐climbing approach is used to search for the optimal mesh refinement for a number of models differentiated by their velocity fields. The adaptive genetic algorithm is used to determine a mesh refinement that is close to a locally optimal mesh refinement. Following the adaptive genetic algorithm, a hill‐climbing approach is used to determine a local optimal feasible mesh refinement.FindingsIn all cases the optimal mesh refinements determined with this hybrid method are equally optimal to, or a significant improvement over, mesh refinements determined through direct search methods.Research limitationsFurther extensions of this work could include the application of the mesh refinement technique presented in this paper to non‐steady‐state problems with time‐dependent coefficients with multi‐dimensional velocity fields.Originality/valueThe present work applies an original hybrid optimization technique to obtain highly accurate solutions using the method of Hermite collocation with minimal mesh refinement.

A nested optimization problem that utilizes a multiscenario approach based upon a method known as robust optimization is employed to determine a groundwater remediation design that considers the uncertainty in the hydraulic conductivity in the flow and transport model. This optimization approach reduces a complicated multiscenario approach to a simple deterministic method for optimization. The parameter values associated with the final deterministic model represent not the true physical model, but rather a model that results in a conservatively designed remediation system that accounts for the uncertainty in the hydraulic conductivity. Both flow constraints and concentration constraints are considered in this approach, and as such the optimization problem is nonlinear in both its objective function and its constraints. A search method that combines simulated annealing and a downhill simplex algorithm is used to determine the solution to this optimization problem.

Many groundwater remediation designs for contaminant plume containment are developed using mathematically based groundwater flow models. These mathematical models are most effective as predictive tools when the parameters that govern groundwater flow are known with a high degree of certainty. The hydraulic conductivity of an aquifer, however, is uncertain, and so remediation designs developed using models employing one realization of the hydraulic conductivity field have an associated risk of failure of plume containment. To account for model uncertainty attributable to hydraulic conductivity in determining an optimal groundwater remediation design for plume containment, a method of optimization called robust optimization is utilized. This method of optimization is a multiscenario approach whereby multiple hydraulic conductivity fields are examined simultaneously. By examining these fields simultaneously, the variability of the uncertainty is included in the model. To increase the efficiency of the robust...

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), enter coastal environments primarily in effluents of wastewater treatment facilities and have become ubiquitous in marine surface waters, sediments, and biota. Although EE2 and 4-NP have been detected in marine shellfish, the kinetics of bioconcentration and their tissue distribution have not been thoroughly investigated. The authors performed bioconcentration and depuration experiments in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, with 3.37 nM EE2 (0.999 μg/L) and 454 nM 4-NP (100.138 µg/L). Mussels and seawater were sampled throughout a 38-d exposure and a 35-d depuration period, and 6 tissues were individually assayed. Uptake of EE2 and 4-NP was curvilinear throughout exposure and followed a similar uptake pattern: digestive glandgill ≥ remaining visceragonadadductorplasma. Depuration varied, however, with half-lives ranging from 2.7 d (plasma) to 92 d (gill) for EE2 and 15 d (plasma) to 57 d (gill) for 4-NP. An innovative modeling approach, with 3 coupled mathematical models, was developed to differentiate the unique roles of the gill and plasma in distributing the EDCs to internal tissues. Plasma appears pivotal in regulating EDC uptake and depuration within the whole mussel.

The permeability of a single hydrostratigraphic unit is associated with considerable uncertainty due to measurement errors and significant spatial variability. Historically this uncertainty is characterized by a lognormal distribution. This distribution is generally heavy tailed, so using this distribution to describe the permeability has the limitation that all positive values of permeability for a given hydrostratigraphic unit have positive (not zero) probability of occurrence. The beta distribution, with its bounded domain, is explored as an alternative to the lognormal distribution in describing the uncertainty of permeability. The lognormal distribution and the beta distribution are both fit to the historic data provided by Jan Law in 1944 that was used to generalize the statement that the uncertainty in the permeability follows a lognormal distribution. The lognormal distribution and the beta distribution are also fit to an extensive permeability data set taken from regions within the Dakota Sandstone that have been shown to represent a single hydrostratigraphic unit. The results of this curve fitting exercise indicate that the beta distribution is a viable alternative to the lognormal distribution to characterize the uncertainty in permeability.

Objective The aim was to investigate and define possible alterations in cerebral activity during prolonged hyperbaric oxygen exposure and decompression as compared to baseline activity. Methods Thirty-two channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded with a Bluetooth EEG system in 11 subjects. A 20-min EEG recording was carried out under three different conditions: breathing air inside a hyperbaric chamber at sea level; breathing oxygen at a simulated depth of 18 msw; breathing air at sea level after decompression. Relative EEG power was estimated in frequency ranges. Results During oxygen breathing, brain activity showed an early fast delta decrease in the posterior regions, with a synchronous and significant increase in alpha in the same regions. After decompression, the delta relative power decrease was uniformly distributed over the cerebral cortex until minute 8, and the alpha relative power was maximal in the posterior regions during the first 2 min. Conclusions These results may be relevant for establishing a reference point in future studies on oxygen-sensitive subjects who reported problems during oxygen diving. Significance Significant changes in EEG relative power suggest that it may be possible to define and recognize landmarks of oxygen-induced brain activity, which would be useful in the medical treatment of subjects reporting “oxygen-toxicity diving-related problems”.

New wireless technologies can overcome technical and safety problems of older ones for recording biological signals in hyperbaric chamber. In an application of a Bluetooth system, we measured the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in professional divers in a hyperbaric chamber to determine how oxygen affects the brain activity. The cortical sources and the connectivity of the EEG rhythms were estimated in three conditions: breathing air at sea level; breathing O 2 at a simulated depth of 18 msw; breathing air at sea level after decompression. The oxygen condition was characterized by an amplitude increase in the alpha and beta sources in the parietal and occipital areas and decrease in the occipital delta and theta sources for at least 20 mins, with a parallel disconnection of the frontal-parietal links in the early minutes of O 2 breathing. These results may be relevant for establishing a reference point in future studies on oxygen-sensitive subjects.

Recording biological signals inside a hyperbaric chamber poses technical challenges (the steel walls enclosing it greatly attenuate or completely block the signals as in a Faraday cage), practical (lengthy cables creating eddy currents), and safety (sparks hazard from power supply to the electronic apparatus inside the chamber) which can be overcome with new wireless technologies. In this technical report we present the design and implementation of a Bluetooth system for electroencephalographic (EEG) recording inside a hyperbaric chamber and describe the feasibility of EEG signal transmission outside the chamber. Differently from older systems, this technology allows the online recording of amplified signals, without interference from eddy currents. In an application of this technology, we measured EEG activity in professional divers under three experimental conditions in a hyperbaric chamber to determine how oxygen, assumed at a constant hyperbaric pressure of 2.8 ATA , affects the bioelectrical activity. The EEG spectral power estimated by fast Fourier transform and the cortical sources of the EEG rhythms estimated by low-resolution brain electromagnetic analysis were analyzed in three different EEG acquisitions: breathing air at sea level; breathing oxygen at a simulated depth of 18 msw, and breathing air at sea level after decompression.

A dimensionless model was developed to determine the pressure drop across clean pleated filters, according to filter medium type, geometric characteristics of the pleating (distance between two pleats, pleat height, etc) and air flow parameters (filtration velocity, air density, etc). The model was derived from both experimental and numerical results obtained from nuclear and automotive filters — high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and low efficiency particulate (LE), respectively. The major findings were that a more homogeneous air flow distribution occured over the surface of the pleated HEPA filter, while geometric characteristics had a greater influence on the initial pressure drop across the LE filter. The numerical model highlighted the fundamental importance of the filter medium's air flow resistance on air flow distribution.

In order to achieve a satisfactory level of hygiene and comfort in ventilated premises and to assess the pollutant transfers, it is necessary to control the air flow distribution. An intermediate approach between predictive numerical simulations and experimental determinations of aerodynamic parameters characterizing air distribution in rooms, is constituted by the systemic approach. This article presents the main principles of this approach, which is based on the residence time distribution (RTD) theory, commonly used in chemical engineering, and gives an illustration of its potential extension to ventilation problems. The aim of the IDTS code developed is to build a model from a combination of elementary systems representing basic ideal flow patterns (perfect mixed flow, plug flow,…). The adjustment of the model lies in the comparison of the response to a stimulus injected into the model with an experimental tracer emission performed in a ventilated room inlet. The general solving strategy adopted, consisting in a two-level dissociated treatment of parametric identification and structural identification of models, is first presented. Then, two problems tackled during the qualification step of the IDTS code are presented to illustrate the applications of this computer-aided design tool for the description and the quantification of air flow patterns and the associated pollutant transfers observed in ventilated indoor spaces, and particularly in nuclear ventilation networks. The comparison between experimental residence time distribution curves recorded in two ventilated laboratory enclosures and the simulated ones shows good agreement. For the last illustrative problem, a comparison with results obtained from a computational fluid dynamics tool has been performed.

The flavonoids are a heterogeneous group of ubiquitous plant polyphenols that abound in the human diet and are endowed with several biological activities, including immunomodulating and antioxidant activities. The bioactivity of flavonoids is tightly correlated with their chemical structure and action mechanisms, mostly inhibitory, on enzymatic systems involved in cellular activation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acetonic extracts from Lunularia cruciata gametophytes and Feijoa sellowiana fruits on human phagocyte functions. A purified native flavonoid, a catechin, and two of its derivatives were also tested. The extract, and its flavonoid activity, was evaluated by analyzing luminol-dependent chemiluminescence emitted by human circulating phagocytes, at rest or activated by phorbol miristate acetate (PMA). The results demonstrate that both the raw extracts and flavonoids significantly inhibit CL emission by leukocytes, especially when these cells are activated by PMA. The antioxidant activity of flavonoids can be increased by changing the chemical structure of the native molecule.

A major concern with high-performance general-purpose workstations is to speed up the execution of commands, uniprocess applications, and multiprocess applications with coarse- to medium-grain parallelism. The authors have developed a methodology and a set of tools to generate traces for the performance evaluation of shared-bus, shared-memory multiprocessor systems. Trace Factory produces traces representing significant real workloads consisting of a flexible set of commands and uniprocess and multiprocess user applications. The authors evaluate its accuracy and show how it can be used to evaluate and compare the performance of five coherence protocols.

We describe a simulator which emulates the activity of a shared memory, common bus multiprocessor system with private caches. Both kernel and user program activities are considered, thus allowing an accurate analysis and evaluation of coherence protocol performance. The simulator can generate synthetic traces, based on a wide set of input parameters which specify processor, kernel and workload features. Other parameters allow us to detail the multiprocessor architecture for which the analysis has to be carried out. An actual-trace-driven simulation is possible, too, in order to evaluate the performance of a specific multiprocessor with respect to a given workload, if traces concerning this workload are available. In a separate section, we describe how actual traces can also be used to extract a set of input parameters for synthetic trace generation. Finally, we show how the simulator may be successfully employed to carry out a detailed performance analysis of a specific coherence protocol. >

This study was designed to assess whether maximum shortening velocity and force-velocity parameters were reduced by acidosis in rat skinned cardiac trabeculae, as reported for skinned skeletal muscles. Thin trabeculae were dissected from right ventricle of adult male Wistar rats, chemically skinned, and maximally Ca-activated at pH 7.0, 6.6 and 6.2. Maximum tension (Po), maximum shortening velocity evaluated from force-velocity curves (Vmax), and maximum power output (Wmax) were significantly reduced for exposure to pH 6.6 and 6.2. When the value at pH 7.0 is taken as reference, Po decreased by 30% and 49% Vmax by 17% and 40% and Wmax by 30% and 60% at pH 6.6 and 6.2 respectively. A similar reduction (25% at pH 6.6 and 42% and pH 6.2) was observed when unloaded shortening velocity (Vo) was determined with the slack test method. The results obtained show that both Po and Vmax or Vo, are affected by a substantial decrease in pH. The combination between significantly lower Po and Vmax gives rise to significantly lower Wmax. The reduction of maximum shortening velocity (Vmax or Vo) can be explained by assuming either the existence of an internal load or an impairment in actin-myosin interaction.

Ground water is an important water supply source for many coastal communities. Significant ground water extraction can lead to landward migration of the saltwaterfreshwater interface, which can contaminate the water supply. It is therefore important to consider the potential for saltwater intrusion when developing a ground water management plan in coastal regions. An important tool in analyzing such problems is the numerical model which can predict water levels, ground water flow, and the location of the salt-water interface given a particular pumping regime. Such models require knowledge of hydraulic parameters for each aquifer. Imprecise specification of these parameters can lead to inaccurate results and it is therefore important to evaluate the effect of uncertainty in model parameters. Because the hydraulic conductivity of an aquifer is critically important for predicting the location of the saltwater- freshwater interface, it is a major source of uncertainty in ground water analysis. Here we investigate two types of uncertainty in the context of ground water management problems: (1) modeler’s uncertainty reflects inaccurate estimation of mean hydraulic conductivity, and (2) spatial variability reflects our inability to adequately characterize the spatially heterogeneous distribution of hydraulic conductivity at an appropriate scale for precise modeling. Both types of uncertainty are investigated by developing a ground water management problem based on a coastal aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The management problem seeks to minimize the threat of saltwater intrusion while meeting the water supply demands of the community. The two types of uncertainty are shown to have different and substantial effects on optimal management designs. These results illustrate the importance of considering uncertainty in determining ground water management solutions in a coastal aquifer environment.

The aim of organic plant breeding is to develop plants, which enhance the potential of organic farming and biodiversity. Organic plant breeding is a holistic approach, which respects natural crossing barriers and is based on fertile plants that can establish a viable relationship with the living soil. For this purpose, in the present study, we show some cases of interest coming from a pilot project on organic farming. In this project, genetic resources and/or genetic stocks of durum wheat, tomato and pea were evaluated for high stability in low input systems by means of organic practices., Svrha oplemenjivanja bilja za ekološku poljoprivredu je kreiranje biljke koja će unaprijediti potencijal ekološke proizvodnje i biološke različitosti. Ekološko oplemenjivanje je cjelovit pristup koji uvažava prirodne barijere križanja, a temelji se na plodnoj biljci koja uspostavlja održiv odnos s tlom. Izneseni su rezultati studije - pilot projekta o ekološkoj poljoprivredi: genetski izvori durum pšenice, rajčice i graška vrednovani su na visoku stabilnost i sistem malog ulaganja ekološke proizvodnje.

Study objective – The aim was to assess the changes in sympatho-vagal balance which occur with exercise. Design – The power spectnun of RR interval fluctuations (low frequency [LF] and high frequency components [HF]) was determined before, during, and after graded work load exercise on a cycle ergometer. The power spectrum of the respiratory signal, oxygen consumption, and respiratory volumes were also evaluated. In all subjects HF was considered to be an index of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. In normal subjects HF and LF were considered to be indices of relative vagal and sympathetic activity, respectively, whereas in heart transplant subjects HF was considered as a respiratory modulation of the intrinsic heart rate, and not dependent on autonomic tone. Heart rate variability was evaluated as RR interval variance. Subjects – 15 normal subjects (six trained cyclists and nine healthy sedentary subjects) and six orthotopic heart transplant recipients took part in the study. Measurements and main results – During the fust part of exercise, heart rate increased, RR interval variance decreased, HF decreased, and the relative amount of LF increased both in sedentary and athletic subjects, suggesting a relative increase in sympathetic tone. However, when approaching peak exercise, while heart rate further increased and the variance slightly decreased, the relative proportion of LF decreased and HF proportionally increased. At peak exercise HF accounted for 99.9% of heart rate variability in athletic subjects and for 88.9% in sedentary subjects (p

The authors verified the hypothesis regarding an unawareness of possible febrile alterations during night sleep in patients with Hodgkin's disease who complain of night sweats as their only symptom. In these patients, body temperature was monitored by means of a 0.01 degrees C-sensitive linear transducer coupled with a digital multimeter. The palm of the hand (after it was passively closed in a fist by a full bandage) was the body site where temperature measurement was found to be most comfortable for a sleeping patient and independent of movements during sleep. A good correlation was found between the hand temperature taken with this technique and oral temperature. Of six patients with sweating as their only symptom, sweating recurred during the night in four and during the afternoon in the other two. In all patients sweating was preceded by a critical 0.5 to 1.5 degrees C increase in hand temperature, which took place no more than 30 minutes before sweating. Those with nocturnal sweats awakened during the subsequent sweating-related, rapid temperature decrease. These results are consistent with the occurrence of slight unperceived febrile pulses that precede sweating. The only peculiarity of night sweats consists in the higher probability that a preceding slight temperature rise may not be perceived by a sleeping patient, who is more likely to be awakened by the discomfort of the subsequent sweating. This would also explain the small prognostic significance of these sweats, which is the same as that of the preceding fever. These results are discussed in light of the increasing clinical evidence that patients with Hodgkin's disease are often affected by an instability of the thermoregulatory hypothalamic centers.

An acetone extract from the moss Rhynchostegium riparioides was tested against 11 bacterial strains, some of which are pathogenic. The extract was active on some Gram-negative strains. The antibacterial activity of the extract, expressed as MICs, was compared with three reference antibiotics. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.